Convertible cap

ABSTRACT

A cap includes a visor and a removably attached crown that extends downward to outwardly cover zipper teeth attaching the crown to the visor and to cover a rear strap, which is variable in length, extending between rear ends of a band within the visor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to caps and more particularly, to a cap that canbe converted to a visor by removing a removably attached crown portioncovering the wearer's head.

2. Summary of the Background Art

The patent literature includes several descriptions of caps includingremovably attached crowns, allowing the cap to be worn either as anormal cap or as a visor having a band extending around the head and abill extending forward without a crown extending over the top of thehead. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,338 describes a multi-use headcover comprising an adjustable size visor portion and a detachablefabric head covering portion. The visor portion includes a visor bandwith a divided after section to be worn at the back of the user's headjoined by a pair of interlocking plastic strips. A bill is attached to aforward portion of the visor band, which is raised relative to thedivided section and sides to provide effective sun shading. An upperedge of the visor band is trimmed with a first half of a zipper. Thesecond half of the zipper is attached to the fabric dome in the shape ofa yarmulke. The after edge of the dome may be recessed to correspond tothe gap in the upper edge of the after section of the visor to preventbunching of the fabric dome when the visor band is adjusted to smallersizes. The portions of the head covering can be worn assembled to form abaseball-type cap, as a visor with the fabric dome removed, or thefabric dome may be worn by itself as a yarmulke or skullcap.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,270 describes a head wear piece having a detachablecrown and visor portion which can be connected together by two adjacentfacing fastener mechanisms, such as zipper edge strips, one of which islocated on the crown and the other on the visor portion of the headwear. The zipper strips may be concealed by liner flaps or band stripslocated either inside the interior of the visor or outside of them onthe surface of the head wear.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,524 describes a segmented cap assembly that includesselectively detachable crown component, sweatband component, and visorcomponent. The sweatband component is formed having a forward part madeof hook and loop tape, hook-portion-engaging material. The crowncomponent selectively attaches to the sweatband component by engagementof hook and loop tape material fixedly attached to the inside portion ofthe crown component to the upper half of the hook and loop tape hookportion-engaging material. The visor component selectively attaches tothe sweatband component by engagement of hook and loop tape materialfixedly attached to the inside portion of the visor component to thelower half of the hook and loop tape material fixedly attached to theinside portion of the visor component to the lower half of the hook andloop type, hook-portion-engaging material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a cap including avisor and a crown is provided. The visor includes a bill extendingforward from a front portion of the visor, a visor band extending upwardfrom the bill and rearward to an end along each side of the visor, alower zipper strip facing upward and extending inside the visor bandadjacent an upper edge of the visor band, and a rear band fastened toextend between the ends of the visor band, wherein a length of the rearband is variable. The crown covers a space above the visor and includesan upper zipper strip releasably engaging the lower zipper strip,wherein the crown extends downward to cover teeth within the upper andlower zipper strips.

Preferably, the crown additionally extends downward to cover the rearband. The visor may additionally include a headband extending along thevisor band, being disposed inwardly from the zipper strips and extendingupward to inwardly cover teeth within the lower zipper strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cap made in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a crown portion of the cap of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a visor portion of the cap of FIG. 1shown with the crown portion of FIG. 3 removed therefrom;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the visor portion of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a side of the cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a rear elevation of an alternative version of the cap of FIG.1; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevation of the cap of FIG. 7, showing a rearportion thereof as viewed from inside.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a cap 10 built in accordance with the invention withFIG. 1 being a perspective view thereof, and with FIG. 2 being a rearelevation thereof. The cap 10 includes a visor 12, to which a crown 14is releasably attached. The visor 12 includes a bill 16, extendingforward in the direction of arrow 18, and a visor band 20, extendingupward, in the direction of arrow 22, from the bill 16, and additionallyextending rearward, opposite the direction of arrow 18, along each sideof the visor 12.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the crown 14, shown as detached from thevisor 12 of the cap 10, while FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the visor12, shown with the crown 14 detached therefrom. For example, the crown14 is made by sewing a number of fabric sections 24 together at seams26, with a rolled edge 28 being formed at a lower edge, and with abutton 30 being sewn in place at the upper intersection of the sections24. A number of eyelets 32 may be installed within the sections 24 toprovide air holes for cooling. For example, the visor band 20 is made bysewing a number of fabric sections 34 together at seams 36. The visorband 20 extends rearward, opposite the direction of arrow 18, along eachside of the visor 12, to an end 38, with a rear band 40 being fastenedto extend between the two ends 38.

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the visor 12, again shown with the crown14 detached therefrom. Preferably, the rear band 40 is formed of anelastic material allowing the length of the band 40 to vary, so that thedistance between the ends 38 of the visor band 20 is changed toaccommodate the circumference of the wearer's head.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a side of the cap 10, shownwith various elements held apart to show an internal structure of thecap 10. The visor 12 includes a lower zipper strip 42, disposedinwardly, in the direction of arrow 44, from the visor band 20, andfastened thereto to face upward, in the direction of arrow 22. The crown14 includes an upper zipper strip 46, disposed inwardly from the fabricsections 24 forming the outer surface of the crown 14, being fastened tothese sections 34 to extend downward, opposite the direction of arrow22, with teeth 48 of the upper zipper strip 46 releasably engaging teeth50 of the lower zipper strip 42. The visor 12 preferably additionallyincludes a headband 52, disposed inwardly from the lower zipper strip42, extending upward to inwardly cover the teeth 50 of the lower zipperstrip 42. In accordance with preferred versions of the invention, theteeth 48, 50 are inwardly covered so that they cannot become entangledwithin the wearer's hair. This is accomplished, for example, by theheadband 52 of the visor 12 extending upward to cover the teeth 48 ofthe upper zipper strip 46 as well as the teeth 50 of the lower zipperstrip 42. Optionally, the crown 14 may include a headband 54 extendingdownward to cover at least the teeth 48 of the upper zipper strip 46.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the visor band 20 extends upward to an edge58 above the lower zipper strip 42, including its teeth 50, so thatthese teeth 50 are outwardly hidden when the visor band 20 is wornwithout the crown 14. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the fabric sections 24of the crown 14 extend downward past the edge 58 of the visor band 20 toa rolled edge 28, so that a visible gap is not seen at an edge betweenthe visor band 20 and the crown 14. Referring to FIGS. 2, and 5, thecrown 14 further includes a rear portion 60 extending downward to coverthe rear band 40 of the visor 12 and an opening 62 extending above therear band 40 and between the ends 38 of the visor band 20. In this wayadvantages are achieved over prior art apparatus in that the rear band40 and the adjacent space 62 are completely covered and in that thezipper teeth 48, 50 are covered by the crown instead of by materialextending downward from the crown and upward from the visor to meet at agap. In the example of FIG. 4, the rear portion 60 extends downward to apoint.

FIG. 7 is a rear elevation of an alternative version 64 of a cap builtin accordance with the invention to include a visor 12 as describedabove and a crown 66 including a rear portion 67 that is widened toaccommodate greater changes in the distance between the ends 38 of thevisor band 20.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevation of the cap 64 showing a rear portionthereof as viewed from inside. The rear band 40 is shown as beinginwardly attached to the visor band 20 near its ends 38 by stitchingpatterns 68. The headband 52 of the is shown with its corners 70 foldeddownward to reveal the zipper strips 42, 46, which are releasably heldtogether by their teeth 48, 50. A lever 72 is pivoted outward and ismanually moved around the zipper strips 42, 46 to separate or join thestrips 42, 46 in the manner of a jacket zipper. Access to this lever 72is provided by folding the rear portion 66 of the crown outward.

While the invention has been described in its preferred forms orembodiments with some degree of particularity, it is understood thatthis description has been given only by way of example, and that manyvariations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, as defined in the appended claims.

1. A cap comprising: a visor including a bill extending forward from afront portion of the visor, a visor band extending upward from the billand rearward to an end along each side of the visor, a lower zipperstrip facing upward and extending inside the visor band adjacent anupper edge of the visor band, and a rear band fastened to extend betweenthe ends of the visor band, wherein a length of the rear band isvariable, and a crown covering a space above the visor, wherein thecrown includes an upper zipper strip releasably engaging the lowerzipper strip, and wherein the crown extends downward to outwardly coverteeth within the upper and lower zipper strips.
 2. The cap of claim 1,wherein the crown additionally extends downward to outwardly cover therear band.
 3. The cap of claim 1, wherein the rear band is formed as astrip of elastic material.
 4. The cap of claim 1, wherein the visoradditionally includes a headband extending along the visor band, beingdisposed inwardly from the zipper strips and extending upward toinwardly cover teeth within the lower zipper strip.
 5. The cap of claim4, wherein the headband of the visor extends upward to additionallycover teeth within the upper zipper strip.
 6. The cap of claim 4,wherein the crown additionally includes a headband extending downward toinwardly cover teeth within the upper zipper strip.
 7. A cap comprising:a visor including a bill extending forward from a front portion of thevisor, a visor band extending upward from the bill and rearward to anend along each side of the visor, a lower zipper strip facing upward andextending inside the visor band adjacent an upper edge of the visorband, and a rear band fastened to extend between the ends of the visorband, wherein a length of the rear band is variable, and a crowncovering a space above the visor, wherein the crown includes an upperzipper strip releasably engaging the lower zipper strip, and wherein thecrown extends downward to cover the rear band.
 8. The cap of claim 7,wherein the rear band is formed as a strip of elastic material.
 9. Thecap of claim Z, wherein the visor additionally includes a headbandextending along the visor band, being disposed inwardly from the zipperstrips and extending upward to inwardly cover teeth within the lowerzipper strip.
 10. The cap of claim 9, wherein the headband of the visorextends upward to additionally cover teeth within the upper zipperstrip.
 11. The cap of claim 9, wherein the crown additionally includes aheadband extending downward to inwardly cover teeth within the upperzipper strip.